Multi-Levelled Identity Negotiation in the Second Temple Period

doi:10.1628/978-3-16-200120-7

Multi-Levelled Identity Negotiation in the Second Temple Period

Essays in Honor of Louis C. Jonker

Edited by Angelika Berlejung and Benjamin D. Giffone

2026. 405 pages.

Forschungen zum Alten Testament (FAT) 192

DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-200120-7

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Summary

This volume engages Louis C. Jonker's model of »multi-levelled identity negotiation,« which describes how Yehudian scribes moved across four different domains. Contributors from Europe, America, and Africa test and expand the model through studies on Chronicles, the Pentateuch, Kings, Isaiah, and Psalms, as well as material culture and objects.

The contributors to this volume respond in various ways to Louis C. Jonker's proposal of a comprehensive model of »multi-levelled identity negotiation« that describes the dynamic ability of Yehudian scribes to move within four different domains - within the Persian Empire; Yehud among its provincial neighbors; the tribal relationships within »All Israel«; and within the Jerusalem cult - and to emphasize (or de-emphasize) different aspects of identity, depending on the needs of the community. The essays in Part I focus on aspects of or passages from the book of Chronicles, building on and responding to Jonker's analysis. The essays in Part II respond to Jonker's call to analyze portions of the Hebrew canon other than Chronicles. Three essays pertain to the Pentateuch, three to the book of Kings, one addresses Isaiah's servant songs, and one Psalms 135-136. The essays in Part III pursue »multi-levelled identity negotiation« in a different direction: objects and material culture.

Table of contents:

Part I - Further Refining »All-Israel« in Chronicles
Ehud Ben Zvi: Samaria and Edom as Complementary »Proximate Others« in the Early Second Temple Period - Kevin Burrell: (Mis)Representing Cush in the Chronicler's Historiography: Implications for Identity Formation - Gideon R. Kotzé: Building Theologies: A Comparative Analysis of the Susa Foundation Charter (DSf) and 2 Chr 1:18-2:17 - Esias E. Meyer: The Consecration of the Levites in den פסח-Narrativen: Inspired by H? - Ntozakhe Simon Cezula: Chronicles and Exodus: An Exploration of 2 Chr 35:1-19

Part II - Multi-Levelled Identity Negotiation Beyond Chronicles
Christoph Levin: Defining All-Israel in Genesis: The List of the Israelites who had come to Egypt (Gen 46:8-27) - Christian Frevel: Defining All-Israel in Numbers - Konrad Schmid: When Was the Torah Considered a Normative Text? - Benjamin D. Giffone: Defining YHWH's 'Israel': YHWH's House and Land in Solomon's Prayer, in Kings and Chronicles - Hermann-Josef Stipp: Naaman's Conversion to Israel - Hans-Peter Mathys: Second Kings 5: The Story of Naaman the Aramean - Andreas Schuele: Isaiah as the Final Servant: The Servant Songs and the Issue of Prophetic Identity - Gert T. M. Prinsloo: Psalms 135-136: Reinterpreting the Past, Reimagining the Future, Renegotiating Identity in Late Persian-Period Yehud

Part III - Multi-Levelled Identity Negotiation Through Objects
Izak Cornelius and Renate Marian van Dijk-Coombes: Decapitated Heads and Cherubim Thrones: The Books of Chronicles and the Iconography of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt - Joshua Joel Spoelstra: »The Footstool for the Feet of Our God« (1 Chr 28:2): The Ark of the Covenant According to the Chronicler - Angelika Berlejung: Defining Israel by a Wall: Jerusalem's City Wall as Identity Construct

Authors/Editors

Angelika Berlejung Born 1961; is Professor for "History and Religion of Israel and its Environment" at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Leipzig, an Extraordinary Professor for Ancient Studies at the University of Stellenbosch/South Africa, a Visiting Full Professor for Biblical Archaeology at Bar Ilan University/Israel, and a Full Member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences.

https://orcid.org/0000000245569167

Benjamin D. Giffone Born 1984; 2009 MS in Biblical Studies; 2012 MTh; 2014 PhD in Old Testament; research associate, Universiteit van Stellenbosch; Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at LCC International University, Klaipėda, Lithuania.

https://orcid.org/0000000309076514